A Wise Word:

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Lately, I've really been trying to focus on making my spirituality fit my life. The hardest part is meditation. It requires quiet, uninterrupted time that I just don't have. So I am focusing more on mini-meditations, stolen moments to quiet myself and reflect. A few of my favorites are listed below.

Hang the Laundry: I know it sounds like a chore and some may see it as extra work, but it's quite relaxing. The repetitive motion and no brainer activity makes it a great time to think and reflect. I leave the girls inside and use this time to focus on the invigorating power of the sun and the wind. It always improves my outlook on the day. Plus the sight of colorful cloth diapers dancing in the wind gives me an enormous sense of accomplishment.

Sit on the Toilet: Yes, I did go there. If you can't get a few moments any other way, hide in the bathroom. Find a comfortable seat the floor or edge of the tub work just as well as the toilet and just quiet your mind. The distinctive bath room white noise really helps. Usually, I find myself hiding in the bathroom when it's been a particularly active day for Miss Busy. Once I've found a few moments of comfortable balance, I try to focus on all the good, funny, silly things she has done. It helps me feel far less frazzled.

Get Something Done: Maybe this sounds like the opposite of meditation, but stay with me. If there is something you love to do, but feel you never have time, give it the time that you do have. I keep some knitting or hand sewing easily accessible through out the day and sneak in a few minutes of work every chance I get. The act of creating is very meditative for me and unless Miss Busy pulls my knitting down it is something that will never have to be redone. If I knit one row, that one row will still be there tomorrow.

Speed Write: When there are just way too many things running around in my brain, I sit down and write them down as fast as I can. Give it a try. No editing, no grammar checks, no reading over previous ideas. Just toss them down on the paper as quickly as they pop into your head. When you have finished, sit and relish a few moments of mental stillness before throwing the paper away or burning it on your altar.

Fresh basil from the garden. It has nothing to do with this post
other than the fact that the smell of fresh basil makes me happy.

Finding a Witch

As a little girl, I told my parents that I preferred being barefoot because I could feel the Earth breathing through the soles of my feet. Of course, with their typical conservative piousness, I was quickly shushed and informed that the Earth did not breathe. Even though I never mentioned it again, I didn't for a moment believe them.

For many years, I communed silently with the elements and in times of need used childish spell work to pull healing from the Earth and soothing from the Wind. It was my secret superstition and I hid it well beneath my fundamentalist Christian costume.

After being freed from the church for several years, I begin to pursue the secret knowledge I have carried with me all this time. That is how I got here: joyfully practicing the old faith in this little apartment. I'm still in the broom closet most days and I have a lot to learn, but the journey has begun.